Rotary machine adapted to operate as a pump or as a fluid motor



June 23, 1959 s, MENON 2,891,482

MACHINE PTED TO OPERATE ROTARY AS A PUMP OR A FLUID MOTOR Filed NOV. 27, 1957 United States Patent ROTARY MACHINE ADAPTED TO OPERATE AS A PUNIP 0R AS A FLUID MOTOR Stanislao Menon, Turin, Italy, assignor to Emanuel di Giuseppe e Roberto Emanuel 8: C.S.A.S., Tlll'lll, Italy The present invention concerns a rotary machine adapted to operate as a pump or as a fluid motor.

Pumps constituted by a vaned rotor running free in radial grooves, rotating eccentrically in a cylinder body closed at its ends, are well known today. The vanes driven by the eccentric rotor, slide with their outer edges on the internal surface of the stator and they sub-divide the internal space of the machine into a plurality of chambers which progressively increase and decrease in volume, causing a suction action on one side and on the other side a continuous compressing action.

Suchpumps must of necessity rotate with sufiicient velocity in order to impart to the free running vanes such a centrifugal force as to maintain the vanes in contact with the internal surface of the stator, this motion generating considerable friction between the sliding surfaces which are in contact thereto, and, consequently, causing a heavy wear of said surfaces.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a rotary pump capable of functioning at any speed, even at a very lowspeed, and practically eliminatingthe friction between the outer edge of the vanes and the cylindrical surface of the stator. According to the present invention the outer edge of the vanes is in contact with the. internal surface of a cylinder rotating on anti-friction ball or roller bearings housed on the internal surface of the pump body, the inner edge of the vanes being guided by a pair of rings concentric to said cylin der, the vanes rotating radially free in a rotor mounted on an eccentric axis in respect to the rotation axis of said cylinder and of said rings, and driven into rotation by said rotor.

With this and other objects in view which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a schematic transverse cross-sectional view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an axial cross-sectional view seen along the broken line A-A of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the driving device of the rotating cylinder;

Fig. 4 is a constructional detail of the sliding vanes; and

Fig. 5 is a constructional detail of the driving vane.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the body 1 of the machine, which is adapted to operate either as a pump or as a vaned motor, presents in its internal surface a rolling track 1a for the rollers 2, on which the cylinder 3 rotates. The cylinder 3 is internally grooved at 3a into which groove there is lodged the part cylindrical head of a driving vane 4, running radially free in the radial slot 5b of the rotor 5. The rotor 5 may rotate on bearings formed in the end plates 6 and 7 of the machine, around the axis 0, eccentric in respect to the axis 01 of rotation of the cylinder 3. The rotor has a number of radial slots in which slide freely a plurality of vanes 8 in addition to the aforementioned vane 2,891,482 Patented June 23, 1959 "ice 4; the inner edge of said vanes are guided by a pair of centralizing rings 9 lodged in two annular recesses 50 which are formed on the two faces of the rotor. The rings 9 are set between two parallel flat surfaces constituted by the bottom of said recesses and by the inner sides of the end plates 6 and 7, and are free to run radially between said surfaces. The inner and outer edges of said vanes 8 and the inner edge of the driving vane 4 present a cylindrical surface of radius r (see Figs. 4 andS), this radius being equal to half the height of the vanes 8, in such a manner that the centralizing rings 9 are always central in respect to the rotating cylinder 3 and that the vanes 8 rest continually with their inner and outer edges respectively on the rings 9 and on the internal surface of the cylinder 3. In the end plate 6 there are formed the intake and outlet apertures 6a, having the shape of annular segments and symmetrically positioned in respect to the vertical axial plane of the machine. These apertures are in communication with the inlet and outlet pipes, not shown in the drawings, through the orifices 6b. In the end plate 7 chambers 7a are formed in line and opposite to the aperture 6a so as to balance the axial pressure on the rotor 5.

. The rotary machine described can operate equally well either as a pump or as a fluid motor, and, furthermore, can also operate in both directions, since the direction of rotation can be reversed in relation to the connections of the fluid inlet and outlet pipes. When the machine is operating as a pump, and providing the rotor is being driven into rotation in anti clock-wise direction in respect to Fig. l by means of shaft 5a, the intake pipe is connected with the righthand side orifice 6b, and the delivery pipe with the left hand orifice 6b in the drawings. In the rotation motion around the axis 0, the rotor 5 drives the vanes 4 and 8, running free radially in said rotor, and,-by means of the driving vane 4, drives. the cylinder 3 into rotation, and thus making the latter rotate around the axis 01 on the rollers 2. The two centralizing rings 9 will always central in respect to the.

cylinder 3, as the rings are being kept at a constant distance from the cylinder by virtue of the cylindrical configuration of the edges of the vanes which are running free radially in the slot of the rotor. The two centralizing rings 9 will, therefore, also rotate around the axis 01, and the driving motion between the edges of the vanes and the surfaces of the rings 9 and of the cylinder 3 is reduced to a gentle oscillation depending upon the eccentricity to the two axis of rotations. The chambers fixed by two contiguous vanes, the outer surface of the rotor 5 and the inner surface of the cylinder 3, gradually increase in volume in the right hand section of the machine, thereby generating a suction action, and gradually decreasing in volume in the left hand section, thereby generating a compressing action. The suction and compressing action will be greater as the velocity of rotation imparted to the shaft 5a of the rotor increases. By inverting the connection of the fluid intake and outlet pipes and by reversing the direction of rotation, the pump will function in an identical manner. The machine can also operate as a fluid motor, by letting in in one of the apertures a compressed gas which will expand in each single volume increasing chambers in order to start rotation of the rotor 5 before coming! out from the opposite aperture. In whichever manner the machine may be functioning, the sealing surfaces between the vanes and the rotating components effects a sliding motion of a reduced amplitude and so guaranteeing long life to said parts.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not a limiting sense,

the scope of the present invention being determined by V the objects and the claims.

I claim:

1. In a rotary machine capable of operating as a pump as well as a fluid motor of the type comprising a cylindrical casing having end walls, a hollow cylinder rotatably supported from and in said casing coaxially with the latter and defining with said end walls a chamber, a rotor rotatable in said chamber eccentrically with respect to said cylinder and said casing, said rotor having a plurality of radial slots, a driving vane radially slidable in one of said slots having its radially outer edge section anchored to said cylinder thereby coupling said cylinder and said rotor for unison rotation in said casing, a plurality of additional vanes radially slidable in remaining slots in the rotor to bear on the inner surface of said cylinder, said rotor having a recess formed coaxially therein, and a floating centering ring for said vanes in said recess, said vanes having each radially outer and inner edge surfaces bearing on said cylinder and said centering ring, respectively, the improvement comprising said radially outer and inner edge surfaces on each of said vanes positioned on a common cylindrical surface of a radius equal to half the radial height of said vane, whereby said vanes constantly contact said cylinder and said centering ring, respectively, throughout the full revolution of said rotor.

2. In a rotary machine capable of operating as a pump as well as a motor of the type comprising a cylindrical casing having end walls, a hollow cylinder rotatablyv supported from and in the casing coaxially with the latter and defining with said end walls, a chamber, a rotor rotatable in said chamber eccentrically with respect to said cylinder and said casing, said rotor having a plurality of radial slots, a driving vane radially slidable in one of said slots having its radially outer edge section anchored to said cylinder, thereby coupling said cylinder and said rotor for unison rotation in said casing, and a plurality of additional vanes radially slidable in remaining slots in the rotor to bear on the inner surface of said cylinder, the improvement comprising said rotor having a recess formed coaxially therein at each end of the latter and confining with the respective end wall of the casing, a floating centering ring in each of said recesses, and radially outer and inner edge surfaces on each of the vanes positioned on a common cylindrical surface of a radius equal to half the radial height of said vane, the said radially outer and inner edge surfaces constantly bearing on the inner surface of said cylinder and outer surfaces of said centering rings, respectively.

3. In a rotary machine capable of operating as a pump as well as a fluid motor of the type comprising a cylindrical casing having end walls, 'a hollow cylinder rotatably supported from and in the casing coaxially with the latter and defining with said end walls a chamber, a rotor rotatable in said chamber eccentrically with respect to said cylinder and said casing, a plurality of radial slots in said rotor, a driving vane radially slidable in one of said slots having its radially outer edge section anchored to said cylinder thereby coupling said cylinder and said rotor for unison rotation in said casing, and a plurality of additional vanes radially slidable in remaining slots in said rotor to bear on the inner surface of said cylinder, the improvement comprising one of said end walls having inlet and outlet ports symmetrically positioned with respect to a plane passing through the rotation axes of said cylinder and said rotor, the other end wall having a pair of pressure balancing cavities, respectively, opposite said inlet and outlet ports, said rotor having a recess formed coaxially therein at each end of the latter and confining with the respective end wall of the casing, a floating centering ring in each recess, and radially outer and inner edge surfaces on each of said vanes positioned on a common cylindrical surface of a radius equal to half the radial height of said vane, the said radially outer and inner surfaces constantly bearing on the inner surface of said cylinder and outer surfaces of said centering rings, respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,610,748 Cozette Dec. 14, 1926 1,819,689 Ott Aug. 18, 1931 1,965,388 Ott July 3, 1934 2,266,191 Granberg Dec. 16, 1941 2,513,447 Brown July 4, 1950 2,818,707 Sturm Jan. 7, 1958 

